Home for the Holidays - Bringing Families Together

Website

http://www.homefortheholidays.org

What is your idea to address an unmet need of service members, veterans and their families?

Home for the Holidays is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to unite active duty military families who cannot afford to be together with their loved ones for important occasions, times of need and the holiday season. The men and women who serve in our country's military make great personal sacrifices. Separated from their family, they are unable to share both every day and extraordinary life experiences together. For these men and women, so much can happen while they are away from home. First steps, a wedding announcement, an unforeseen illness, or the upcoming holiday season. These events mean even more to active duty families whose one wish is to simply hold those that are dearest to them.

What specific population do you plan to work with? What is their unmet need?

Home for the Holidays is focused on the military population in the San Diego area. Our sole purpose is to give thanks to financially constrained, active duty service men and women by providing the opportunity for them to be a part of family memories. In founding Home for the Holidays, we discovered (to our surprise!) that when a service member is given time off, he/she is generally on their own in terms of funding a trip home. So many of these military families are young, with multiple children and debt. Their extended families live across the country and may be ill, elderly and/or in dire living situations. Please visit our website: http://www.homefortheholidays.org/Stories.aspx for some of the recipient's personal stories.

What is your implementation plan, and how would the $1,000 be used?

Home for the Holidays has already established the infrastructure for accepting award applications through a simple on-line process, followed by telephone interviews including confirmation of needs with the applicant’s supervisor. As determined by our Awards Committee, we support some or all chosen award recipients’ travel needs, including transportation and lodging. Since beginning our operation in 2009, we have been able to triple the number of military families united over the 2010 and 2011 holiday seasons. Yet our capacity does not allow us to assist even a fraction of those in need. We would devote the total grant amount of $1,000 to travel awards to reunite active duty service members with loved ones during the 2012 holiday season.

How are volunteers the key ingredient to your solution?

We wholeheartedly agree that volunteers are essential, since our organization has been built from the ground up on the efforts of volunteers! Home for the Holidays operates with an all-volunteer Board of Directors and a volunteer-based Awards Committee that is tasked with implementing our awards granting process. We also work with community volunteers (including military veterans and spouses) who assist with our events, speaking engagements and outreach. Currently, we are recruiting volunteers with marketing and social media expertise to help us more effectively utilize these untapped technological resources. Engaging volunteers enables Home for the Holidays to strategically serve the community and spread the word about our efforts.

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